Figure 1.--The Garnes family were a prosperous black family at the turn-of-the 20th century. At the time, most blcks still lived in the rural South. Maby were sharecroppers, but quite a number owned their land. This photo was taken near Henderson, North Carolina. It shows Gillis Garnes, his wife and their 17 children, aged 3 to 28. The photo was taken about 1899 while they went to the sunday worship at the Baptist Church where they belonged. They lived in Brodie, about 20 miles from Henderson.

The Garnes family were a prosperous black family at the turn-of-the 20th century. At the time, most blcks still lived in the rural South. Maby were sharecroppers, but quite a number owned their land. This photo was taken near Henderson, North Carolina. It shows Gillis Garnes, his wife and their 17 children, aged 3 to 28. The photo was taken about 1899 while they went to the sunday worship at the Baptist Church where they belonged. They lived in Brodie, about 20 miles from Henderson. Gillis Garnes is about 50 years old. His wife is about 48 years old. The oldest child is a daughter who is 28 years and the youngest is a 3-year old daughter. Mother is holding the youngest daughter and father is holding the youngest boy. They were strong Baptists, 13 of the family were Church members, presumably the little ones had not yet joined. We are not sure about Garnes did not a living, but given the large family and where they lived, we would guess that he was a farmer, almost certainly a land owner given the way the family is dressed and the fact that the children are being educated. All of the family is well dressed. The girls wear white deresses anf the boys suits with large white collars, but unusually small boys. The boys were barefoot, but this was fairly common in the rural South st the time and should not be taken as an indicator of poverty. One of his sons is A.J. Garnes, the tall man in the last row at the right. He and a sister attended Shaw University. Shaw University located in Raleigh, Noth Carolins is a private school founded by the American Baptist Home Mission Society of the Baptist Church. It is s the oldest historically Black college in the South, founded at the end of the Civil War. A.J. was apparently a teacher, but that is not entirely clear. The Southern states like North Carolina commonly did not fund public education well, especilly schools for black children. When he returned hom in the evening he also taught the younger children. [Meserve] At least one of the men apparently served in the Spanish American War (1898-99). [Johnson]

Sources

Meserve, Charles F. Baptist Home Mission Monthly (probably an 1899 issue). The article is written to comoliment the family, but sounds highly racist to the modern era. In particular it avoids the essential idea that black povert was related to segregation and the denial of opportunity.

Johnson, Edward A. History of Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War (Raleigh, North Carolina, 1899).

Created: 12:32 AM 10/3/2011
Last updated: 12:32 AM 10/3/2011